Official Freewing 80mm A-4E/F Skyhawk Thread

[flyinhigh042]

Hello everyone.
Quick story followed by a question for you A-4 drivers. I picked up an A-4 late spring 2020. I took it out to the field for maiden day and three flights. We have a rough 500’ paved runway. On rollout of all three landings that day the A-4 skidded onto a wing, and even flipped completely over on the second landing. The wing tips were in bad shape. The nose and canopy were scratched/scuffed and the top of the vertical stab was damaged. I went home feeling discouraged and a little defeated. I didn’t think any of the three landings were all that bad on my part. I put the A-4 in storage and moved on.

Fast forward to the last few weeks. I repaired the wing tips by adding and shaping some foam filler, then applied a couple layers of thin fiberglass and epoxy for reinforcement. Added a new nose cone and performed a few other minor cosmetic repairs. Ohh, and I added a 3D printed nose gear brace.

I took the A-4 back out to the club tonight all these months later to give it another go. I had a much better experience to say the least. 4 flights with numerous touch-and-go’s. Only one time did the A-4 end up on a wing tip. Unfortunately scraping away the fiberglass repair.

Question. Has anyone come up with a wing tip repair that can at least take some asphalt punishment?

The A-4 was a lot of fun tonight. The rudder inputs are so true. I didn’t see any notable roll coupling from rudder input. I like that! Looking forward to more flights.

[EA-6B Geek]

Read all you can though before you fly it, it is a great jet to fly, do not go with the recommended rates in the book, I don't know who gave that info to the person writing the manual, you will drill it in the ground if your not to experienced with EDF jets, so take your time setting it up, other than that is flies great and very easy to land with flaps down, I think it flies better with the drop tanks and rockets onboard myself, seems to settle it down.

The drop tanks are a huge orientation aid for me. I always fly mine with them on. Good advice DC

[DCORSAIR]

OK thanks Mizer 67. That great news. I buy one then
You have to push yourself in this hobby

Read all you can though before you fly it, it is a great jet to fly, do not go with the recommended rates in the book, I don't know who gave that info to the person writing the manual, you will drill it in the ground if your not to experienced with EDF jets, so take your time setting it up, other than that is flies great and very easy to land with flaps down, I think it flies better with the drop tanks and rockets onboard myself, seems to settle it down.

[Tigerman]

OK thanks Mizer 67. That great news. I buy one then
You have to push yourself in this hobby

[Mizer67]

I simple love this Freewing SkyHawk but am I ready for it. I am fairly new to EDF. I have the brilliant Venom and fly it now with confident. Love to get this SkyHawk, am I running before I can walk or is the SkyHawk a good next step or should I wait and buy another EDF first???

There's nothing particularly challenging about the Skyhawk to fly.

Dial down the ailerons initially until you're used to it and don't get too slow as it'll pitch up and be hard to recover unless you're fairly nose heavy.

It's prone to tipping on the ground, however, so strong crosswinds are not its forte.

[Tigerman]

I simple love this Freewing SkyHawk but am I ready for it. I am fairly new to EDF. I have the brilliant Venom and fly it now with confident. Love to get this SkyHawk, am I running before I can walk or is the SkyHawk a good next step or should I wait and buy another EDF first???

[DForbes]

It should perform perfectly with the battery there. From the pic it looks like you might be able to get the battery just a bit further forward and that will be OK too. Your pic looks just like mine.

Couple of tips - this plane is very sensitive to aileron, start out with very small throws and then dial it up to where you prefer. Most of us are using less than 1/2 of full throw.
The ailerons will look like they are tilting upwards a little at the tip when the ailerons are level, this is normal.
Nose steering needs to be dialed back as well, as this plane sits pretty tall and will tilt over if you turn too sharp when taxiing.

Hey, really appreciate your confirming my battery placement and also the advice. I Will definitely dial down the aileron throws. I have the Hobby Lobby A4 from back in the day and was amazed how little throws were required, can't even imagine the real plane LOL. Thanks again!

[themudduck]

Hey guys can someone advise if this looks about right? CG is at 195mm with a 6000mah battery. I tried to set CG at 185mm but could not get there even with the battery all the way forward. The only way I could get there is put weight in the front and I didn't want to do that.

It should perform perfectly with the battery there. From the pic it looks like you might be able to get the battery just a bit further forward and that will be OK too. Your pic looks just like mine.

Couple of tips - this plane is very sensitive to aileron, start out with very small throws and then dial it up to where you prefer. Most of us are using less than 1/2 of full throw.
The ailerons will look like they are tilting upwards a little at the tip when the ailerons are level, this is normal.
Nose steering needs to be dialed back as well, as this plane sits pretty tall and will tilt over if you turn too sharp when taxiing.

[DForbes]

Hey guys can someone advise if this looks about right? CG is at 195mm with a 6000mah battery. I tried to set CG at 185mm but could not get there even with the battery all the way forward. The only way I could get there is put weight in the front and I didn't want to do that.

[Captain Moron]

Want one. Come on Motion RC get this SkyHawk back in stock ASAP

[Dapreacherman43]

Right wing sanded, filled painted.
Center mold line sanded, filled and painted.
filling in the hinge points.

1quart of flat color matched paint was on sale at our local hardware store for ..... 70 cents!

[Dapreacherman43]

Hi all. Just got my A-4 today.
on the underside of the a-4 on the left side of the tail hook is the AN/ALE 29 chaff/flare dispenser. Cir 1967.
has anyone found a good reference pic not black/and white to get a paint detail on it. It is a dark grey or metal?
TYIA.

[dahawk]

Love it. Great Scale detail. I did mine in BA also but not to thhe level of excellence Brent has here. I'm #4

[Justwingit]

And here's Brent's absolutely stunning Blue Angels tribute ship, flying recently out at Rabbit Dry Lake in SoCal...😎:

Seeing an A-4 in classic Blue Angels colors just brings back so many great memories...Enjoy the show everyone 😁!

[vduniec]

Great stuff and incredible job! I watched the video and am impressed with the ingenuity with the project. Thanks for sharing your techniques.

Heres a video explaining the mods and the finish on my a4 :)

https://youtu.be/2hx7l8chcg4

[Race 22 Crew]

Looks great!

[Corsair nut]

Heres a video explaining the mods and the finish on my a4 :)

https://youtu.be/2hx7l8chcg4

[Corsair nut]

[nuts-n-volts]

Your friend Brent took a fantastic photo! Love the added effects. Man, that's what this hobby is all about! Can't wait to get mine going. Too many planes in line!

[Mizer67]

Just asking... And I may have missed this post. Has anyone put the T-33 power plant in the A-4?

A bit late to answer your question, but I only recently bought an A-4. I dropped the 9 bld. inrunner from my Gripen in the A-4, which is the same motor as the T-33.

I like this motor in the A-4. It's a good step up in this plane vs. the 1857kv 12-bld. I tried the 1857kv motor which I had on hand and with it...the A-4 seemed slow to me. The extra dose of speed from the 9 bld. inrunner is just what the plane needed, in my mind and it makes it more fun to fly.

It's not a plane I'm trying to fly high alpha (except to land) so I don't mind the slightly slower acceleration than the FMS 2100kv 80mm motor I usually use and this is a plane that flies more on the wing so it doesn't really need the extra thrust given its weight. I think this 9 bld FW EDF is a good match for this plane and the FW setup requires no modifications of course, whereas the FMS on this plane would require some cutting.

I only get about 3:40 on a 5000 and 3:00 on a 4000 though.